arXiv subjects

Olivier Mousis

Publications and source records attributed to Olivier Mousis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Formation and Survival of Complex Organic Molecules in the Jovian Circumplanetary Disk

Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are key targets in the search for habitability due to the potential presence of subsurface oceans. Detecting complex organic molecules (COMs), essential for prebiotic chemistry, is crucial to assessing their potential. Though COMs remain undetected on these moons, ESA's JUICE and NASA's Europa Clipper missions aim to fill this gap with their science payloads. This study explores the formation and transport of COMs within Jupiter's circumplanetary disk (CPD), a critical environment for the formation of the Galilean moons. Using a time-dependent model that couples the evolving CPD structure with the dynamics of icy particles of varying sizes and release times, we assess two primary COM formation pathways: thermal processing of ices and UV photochemistry. The results indicate that heating, particularly of NH3:CO2 ices, occurs efficiently before substantial irradiation, making it the dominant pathway for COM formation in the Jovian CPD. However, the relative efficiencies of these two processes are governed by particle density, disk viscosity, accretion rate, and UV flux, which collectively determine drift timescales and exposure to favorable thermodynamic environments. Existing models indicate that Europa's accretion was relatively cold and prolonged, possibly allowing some COMs to survive incorporation, whereas Ganymede and Callisto likely formed under even cooler conditions conducive to preserving COM-rich material. These results highlight the potential inheritance of complex organics by the Galilean moons and offer a framework for interpreting upcoming compositional data from JUICE and Europa Clipper.

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arXiv2025

On the Divergent Evolution of Io and Europa as Primordial Ocean Worlds

The Galilean moons exhibit a decrease in bulk density with distance from Jupiter, which may reflect differences in evolutionary paths and water loss. Early in its history, Jupiter was more luminous and may have driven substantial atmospheric escape on Io and Europa. We investigate whether Io could have lost its water inventory while Europa retained its volatiles, assuming both moons initially accreted hydrous silicates. The formation and early thermal evolution of the protosatellites are modeled using an interior evolution model coupled with an atmospheric escape framework. Dehydration timescales and volatile losses for Io and Europa are computed during their early evolution, accounting for accretional heating from both satellitesimal and pebble accretion, as well as irradiation from Jupiter's primordial luminosity. Europa likely retained most of its volatiles under nearly all plausible formation and evolution scenarios, as large-scale dehydration would have taken place only after the first 10 Myr of its evolution. In contrast, Io was unlikely to lose a substantial amount of water through atmospheric escape and therefore probably accreted predominantly anhydrous silicates. If Europa initially accreted hydrous minerals, the present-day volatile contrast between Io and Europa could be explained by their relative locations with respect to the phyllosilicate dehydration line in the Jovian subnebula. Distinct evolutionary pathways or atmospheric escape processes alone appear insufficient to reproduce the observed differences.

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arXiv2025

Why the Northern Hemisphere Needs a 30-40 m Telescope and the Science at Stake: Key Targets of Opportunity on Gas and Ice Giants and their satellites

The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will transform our knowledge of the outer planets and their satellite systems; however the visibility of unique targets of opportunity with high scientific value will be reduced for northern objects. Uranus' declination favors observations from the Northern Hemisphere until 2055, and Neptune will be favored from the Northern Hemisphere from 2027 for the next 90 years. Jupiter and Saturn experience cycles of better observability from either hemisphere on cycles of 10 and 30 years. These planets and their satellite systems often offer unique opportunities for discovery through time-critical observations. We argue that a 30-m class size telescope in the Northern Hemisphere with complementary scientific instrumentation to that on the ELT will secure the possibility of observing high-impact unpredictable phenomena in these systems.

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arXiv2025

Conditions for accretion favoring an unmelted Callisto and a differentiated Ganymede

Analysis of Callisto's moments of inertia, derived from Galileo's gravity data, suggests that its structure is not fully differentiated. This possibly undifferentiated state contrasts sharply with the globally molten state inferred in its counterpart, Ganymede, and poses unique challenges to theories of the formation and evolution of the Galilean moons. During their formation, both moons experienced multiple heating mechanisms, including tidal heating, radiogenic heating from short-lived radionuclides, accretional heating from impacts, and heat from the surrounding circumplanetary disk. Our study investigates the optimal conditions required to account for Callisto's partially differentiated state in contrast to Ganymede's complete differentiation. We investigate crucial accretion parameters, such as the timing of accretion onset, the duration of accretion, and the impactor size distribution. We find that the observed dichotomy between Ganymede and Callisto can be attributed to similar formation conditions, assuming an identical impactor size distribution and composition in the Jovian circumplanetary disk. The key differences in the formation of Ganymede and Callisto are the disk temperature at their respective formation locations and their final radii. Our results indicate that both moons accreted gradually over more than 2 Myr, concluding at least 5.5 Myr after the formation of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions in the protosolar nebula. Our model demonstrates that Callisto can remain undifferentiated despite accreting a substantial influx of kilometer-sized impactors, potentially contributing up to 30% of the total mass inflow, while still allowing for the complete differentiation of Ganymede.

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arXiv2025

Noble gas depletion on Titan: Clathrate sequestration during the open ocean phase

A plausible explanation for the absence of primordial argon, krypton, and xenon in Titan's current atmosphere is that these gases were sequestered in clathrate hydrates during Titan's "open-ocean" phase. We examine how clathrate hydrate formation at Titan's ocean surface in its early history may have contributed to noble gas depletion in the primordial atmosphere. Starting with vapor-liquid equilibrium modeling between water and volatiles, we used a statistical thermodynamic model to determine the clathrate hydrate crust thickness needed to deplete the primordial atmosphere of noble gases. Our computations suggest that if Titan's volatile budget was delivered by icy planetesimals with a comet-like composition, its primordial atmosphere should be rich in CO$_2$ and CH$_4$, with NH$_3$ largely retained in water as ions. We show that at 273.15 K, a clathrate crust tens of kilometers thick would deplete the primordial atmosphere of xenon and krypton. The lack of primordial argon in Titan's atmosphere may result from the partial de-volatilization of its accreted materials.

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arXiv2025

Primordial Origin of Methane on Eris and Makemake Supported by D/H Ratios

Deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen, is a key tracer of the formation of the Solar System. Recent JWST observations have expanded the dataset of D/H ratios in methane on the KBOs Eris and Makemake, providing new insights into their origins. This study examines the elevated D/H ratios in methane on these KBOs in the context of protosolar nebula dynamics and chemistry, and proposes a primordial origin for the methane, in contrast to previous hypotheses suggesting abiotic production by internal heating. A time-dependent disk model coupled with a deuterium chemistry module was used to simulate the isotopic exchange between methane and hydrogen. Observational constraints, including the D/H ratio measured in methane in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, were used to refine the primordial D/H abundance. The simulations show that the observed D/H ratios in methane on Eris and Makemake are consistent with a primordial origin. The results suggest that methane on these KBOs likely originates from the protosolar nebula, similar to cometary methane, and was sequestered in solid form -- either as pure condensates or clathrates -- within their building blocks prior to accretion. These results provide a { simple} explanation for the high D/H ratios in methane on Eris and Makemake, without the need to invoke internal production mechanisms.

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arXiv2025

Understanding the formation of Saturn's regular moons in the context of giant planet moons formation scenarios

This article explores the different formation scenarios of the Kronian moons system in the context of a highly dissipative Saturn, with the objective of identifying the most likely of these scenarios. First, we review the diversity of objects - moons and rings - orbiting solar system giant planets, and the diversity of their architectures, which formation scenarios must reproduce. We then identify in this broader context the specific features of the Saturn system, such as the particularly large spectrum of its moon masses, the uniqueness of Titan and the presence of both dense and tenuous rings, before discussing the applicability of the different giant planet moon formation scenarios to the Saturn case. We discuss each of the most relevant scenarios and their respective merits. Finally, we tentatively propose a "favorite" scenario and we identify the key observations to be made by future space missions and/or Earth-based telescopic observations to validate this scenario or possibly alternative ones.

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arXiv2024

The Origin and Evolution of Saturn: A Post-Cassini Perspective

The Saturn System has been studied in detail by the Cassini-Huygens Mission. A major thrust of those investigations has been to understand how Saturn formed and evolved and to place Saturn in the context of other gas giants and planetary systems in general. Two models have been proposed for the formation of the giant planets,the core accretion model and the disk instability model. The heavy element enrichment, core size, and internal structure of Saturn, compared to Jupiter strongly favor the core accretion model as for Jupiter. Two features of the core accretion model that are distinct from the disk instability model are the growth of a core with a mass several times that of the Earth, followed by runaway collapse of gas onto the core once a mass threshold is reached. The heavy element core grows slowly over millions of years through accretion of cm-m sized pebbles, even larger bodies, and moon sized embryos in the gaseous disk. The abundance pattern of heavy elements is thus a key constraint on formation models. C, N, S, and P at Saturn are presently known to varying degree of uncertainty. The He to H ratio in the atmosphere is crucial for understanding heat balance, interior processes, and planetary evolution, but present values at Saturn range from low to high, allowing for a wide range of possibilities. While the very low values are favored to explain excess luminosity, high values might indicate presence of layered convection in the interior, resulting in slow cooling. Additional insight into Saturn's formation comes from the unique data on the rings from Cassini's Grand Finale orbits. While the solar system is the only analog for the extra solar systems, detection of the alkali metals and water in giant exoplanets is useful for understanding the formation and evolution of Saturn, where such data are presently lacking.

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arXiv2024

Uranus Study Report: KISS

Determining the internal structure of Uranus is a key objective for planetary science. Knowledge of Uranus's bulk composition and the distribution of elements is crucial to understanding its origin and evolutionary path. In addition, Uranus represents a poorly understood class of intermediate-mass planets (intermediate in size between the relatively well studied terrestrial and gas giant planets), which appear to be very common in the Galaxy. As a result, a better characterization of Uranus will also help us to better understand exoplanets in this mass and size regime. Recognizing the importance of Uranus, a Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) workshop was held in September 2023 to investigate how we can improve our knowledge of Uranus's internal structure in the context of a future Uranus mission that includes an orbiter and a probe. The scientific goals and objectives of the recently released Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey were taken as our starting point. We reviewed our current knowledge of Uranus's interior and identified measurement and other mission requirements for a future Uranus spacecraft, providing more detail than was possible in the Decadal Survey's mission study and including new insights into the measurements to be made. We also identified important knowledge gaps to be closed with Earth-based efforts in the near term that will help guide the design of the mission and interpret the data returned.

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arXiv2024

The role of ammonia in the distribution of volatiles in the primordial hydrosphere of Europa

The presence of a hydrosphere on Europa raises questions about its habitability, and studies of its volatile inventory can provide insight into its formation process. Different scenarios suggest that Europa's volatiles could be derived from cometary ices or devolatilized building blocks. The study of post-accretion processes, in particular the "open ocean" phase that likely occurred before the formation of the icy crust, is crucial to distinguish these origins, as this phase is likely to have influenced the volatile inventory. The abundance of ammonia in Europa's building blocks is also crucial for understanding the composition of its ocean and primordial atmosphere. We aim to investigate ocean-atmosphere equilibrium during the post-accretion period by varying the ammonia fraction in the atmosphere. Our model evaluates the vapor-liquid equilibrium of water and volatiles, as well as the chemical equilibrium within the ocean, to study Europa's early hydrosphere. We explore two initial conditions: one in which Europa's hydrosphere originates from comet-like building blocks, and another in which it forms in equilibrium with a thick, CO$_2$-rich atmosphere. In both scenarios, the initial ratio of accreted CO$_2$ to NH$_3$ determines the magnitude of their partial pressures in Europa's early atmosphere. If this ratio exceeds a certain threshold (set to $10^{-4}$ in this study), the atmosphere will be CO$_2$-rich; otherwise, it will be CO$_2$-depleted by multiple orders of magnitude. Overall, our work provides a initial assessment of the distribution of primordial volatiles in Europa's primitive hydrosphere, and provides a baseline for interpreting data from the upcoming Europa Clipper mission.

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arXiv2024

Impact of Jupiter's heating and self-shadowing on the Jovian circumplanetary disk structure

Deciphering the structure of the circumplanetary disk that surrounded Jupiter at the end of its formation is key to understanding how the Galilean moons formed. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations have shown that this disk was optically thick and significantly heated to very high temperatures due to the intense radiation emitted by the hot, young planet. Analyzing the impact of Jupiter's radiative heating and shadowing on the structure of the circumplanetary disk can provide valuable insights into the conditions that shaped the formation of the Galilean moons. To assess the impact of Jupiter's radiative heating and shadowing, we have developed a two-dimensional quasi-stationary circumplanetary disk model and used a grey atmosphere radiative transfer method to determine the thermal structure of the disk. We find that the circumplanetary disk self-shadowing has a significant effect, with a temperature drop of approximately 100 K in the shadowed zone compared to the surrounding areas. This shadowed zone, located around 10 Jupiter radii, can act as a cold trap for volatile species such as NH$_3$, CO$_2$ and H$_2$S. The existence of these shadows in Jupiter's circumplanetary disk may have influenced the composition of the building blocks of the Galilean moons, potentially shaping their formation and characteristics. Our study suggests that the thermal structure of Jupiter's circumplanetary disk, particularly the presence of cold traps due to self-shadowing, may have played a crucial role in the formation and composition of the Galilean moons.

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arXiv2024

The Polar Stratosphere of Jupiter

Observations of the Jovian upper atmosphere at high latitudes in the UV, IR and mm/sub-mm all indicate that the chemical distributions and thermal structure are broadly influenced by auroral particle precipitations. Mid-IR and UV observations have shown that several light hydrocarbons (up to 6 carbon atoms) have altered abundances near Jupiter's main auroral ovals. Ion-neutral reactions influence the hydrocarbon chemistry, with light hydrocarbons produced in the upper stratosphere, and heavier hydrocarbons as well as aerosols produced in the lower stratosphere. One consequence of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling is the existence of ionospheric jets that propagate into the neutral middle stratosphere, likely acting as a dynamical barrier to the aurora-produced species. As the ionospheric jets and the background atmosphere do not co-rotate at the same rate, this creates a complex system where chemistry and dynamics are intertwined. The ion-neutral reactions produce species with a spatial distribution following the SIII longitude system in the upper stratosphere. As these species sediment down to the lower stratosphere, and because of the progressive dynamical decoupling between the ionospheric flows and the background atmosphere, the spatial distribution of the auroral-related species progressively follows a zonal distribution with increasing pressures that ultimately produces a system of polar and subpolar hazes that extends down to the bottom of the stratosphere. This paper reviews the most recent work addressing different aspects of this environment.

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arXiv2024

Comparing NASA Discovery and New Frontiers Class Mission Concepts for the Io Volcano Observer (IVO)

Jupiter's moon Io is a highly compelling target for future exploration that offers critical insight into tidal dissipation processes and the geology of high heat flux worlds, including primitive planetary bodies, such as the early Earth, that are shaped by enhanced rates of volcanism. Io is also important for understanding the development of volcanogenic atmospheres and mass-exchange within the Jupiter System. However, fundamental questions remain about the state of Io's interior, surface, and atmosphere, as well as its role in the evolution of the Galilean satellites. The Io Volcano Observer (IVO) would address these questions by achieving the following three key goals: (A) Determine how and where tidal heat is generated inside Io; (B) Understand how tidal heat is transported to the surface of Io; and (C) Understand how Io is evolving. IVO was selected for Phase A study through the NASA Discovery program in 2020 and, in anticipation of a New Frontiers 5 opportunity, an enhanced IVO-NF mission concept was advanced that would increase the Baseline mission from 10 flybys to 20, with an improved radiation design; employ a Ka-band communications to double IVO's total data downlink; add a wide angle camera for color and stereo mapping; add a dust mass spectrometer; and lower the altitude of later flybys to enable new science. This study compares and contrasts the mission architecture, instrument suite, and science objectives for Discovery (IVO) and New Frontiers (IVO-NF) missions to Io, and advocates for continued prioritization of Io as an exploration target for New Frontiers.

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arXiv2024

The deep oxygen abundance in Solar System Giant Planets, with a new derivation for Saturn

Deep elemental composition is a challenging measurement to achieve in the giant planets of the solar system. Yet, knowledge of the deep composition offers important insights in the internal structure of these planets, their evolutionary history and their formation scenarios. A key element whose deep abundance is difficult to obtain is oxygen, because of its propensity for being in condensed phases such as rocks and ices. In the atmospheres of the giant planets, oxygen is largely stored in water molecules that condense below the observable levels. At atmospheric levels that can be investigated with remote sensing, water abundance can modify the observed meteorology, and meteorological phenomena can distribute water through the atmosphere in complex ways that are not well understood and that encompass deeper portions of the atmosphere. The deep oxygen abundance provides constraints on the connection between atmosphere and interior and on the processes by which other elements were trapped, making its determination an important element to understand giant planets. In this paper, we review the current constraints on the deep oxygen abundance of the giant planets, as derived from observations and thermochemical models.

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arXiv2024

Insights on the Formation Conditions of Uranus and Neptune from their Deep Elemental Compositions

This study, placed in the context of the preparation for the Uranus Orbiter Probe mission, aims to predict the bulk volatile compositions of Uranus and Neptune. Using a protoplanetary disk model, it examines the evolution of trace species through vapor and solid transport as dust and pebbles. Due to the high carbon abundance found in their envelopes, the two planets are postulated to have formed at the carbon monoxide iceline within the protosolar nebula. The time evolution of the abundances of the major volatile species at the location of the CO iceline is then calculated to derive the abundance ratios of the corresponding key elements, including the heavy noble gases, in the feeding zones of Uranus and Neptune. Supersolar metallicity in their envelopes likely results from accreting solids in these zones. Two types of solids are considered: pure condensates (Case 1) and a mixture of pure condensates and clathrates (Case 2). The model, calibrated to observed carbon enrichments, predicts deep compositions. In Case 1, argon is deeply depleted, while nitrogen, oxygen, krypton, phosphorus, sulfur, and xenon are significantly enriched relative to their protosolar abundances in the two planets. Case 2 predicts significant enrichments for all species, including argon, relative to their protosolar abundances. Consequently, Case 1 predicts near-zero Ar/Kr or Ar/Xe ratios, while Case 2 suggests these ratios are 0.1 and 0.5-1 times their protosolar ratios. Both cases predict a bulk sulfur-to-nitrogen ratio consistent with atmospheric measurements.

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arXiv2024

Triton and Pluto: same origin but separated at birth

Assessing the origin of Pluto and Triton has profound implications for the bigger picture of Solar System formation and evolution. In such a context, this chapter reviews our current knowledge of the formation conditions of Pluto and Triton's constitutive building blocks in the protosolar nebula, which can be derived from their known or estimated volatile contents. Assuming that the ultravolatiles carbon monoxide and dinitrogen detected in Pluto and Triton are primordial, the presence of these molecules suggest that the two bodies accreted material originating from the vicinity of the carbon monoxide and dinitrogen icelines. Dinitrogen--rich and water--poor comets such as comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS) obviously present a compositional link with Pluto and Triton, indicating that their building blocks formed in nearby regions of the protosolar nebula, despite of the variation of the water abundance among those bodies. Also, the assumption of Triton's growth in Neptune's circumplanetary disk requires that its building blocks formed at earlier epochs in the protosolar nebula, to remain consistent with its estimated composition.

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arXiv2024

Recipes for forming a carbon-rich giant planet

The exploration of carbon-to-oxygen ratios has yielded intriguing insights into the composition of close-in giant exoplanets, giving rise to a distinct classification: carbon-rich planets, characterized by a carbon-to-oxygen ratio $\ge$ 1 in their atmospheres, as opposed to giant planets exhibiting carbon-to-oxygen ratios close to the protosolar value. In contrast, despite numerous space missions dispatched to the outer solar system and the proximity of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, our understanding of the carbon-to-oxygen ratio in these giants remains notably deficient. Determining this ratio is crucial as it serves as a marker linking a planet's volatile composition directly to its formation region within the disk. This article provides an overview of the current understanding of the carbon-to-oxygen ratio in the four gas giants of our solar system and explores why there is yet no definitive dismissal of the possibility that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune could be considered carbon-rich planets. Additionally, we delve into the three primary formation scenarios proposed in existing literature to account for a bulk carbon-to-oxygen ratio $\ge$ 1 in a giant planet. A significant challenge lies in accurately inferring the bulk carbon-to-oxygen ratio of our solar system's gas giants. Retrieval methods involve integrating in situ measurements from entry probes equipped with mass spectrometers and remote sensing observations conducted at microwave wavelengths by orbiters. However, these methods fall short of fully discerning the deep carbon-to-oxygen abundance in the gas giants due to their limited probing depth, typically within the 10-100 bar range.

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arXiv2024

Formation of the Trappist-1 system in a dry protoplanetary disk

A key feature of the Trappist-1 system is its monotonic decrease in bulk density with growing distance from the central star, which indicates an ice mass fraction that is zero in the innermost planets, b and c, and about 10\% in planets d through h. Previous studies suggest that the density gradient of this system could be due to the growth of planets from icy planetesimals that progressively lost their volatile content during their inward drift through the protoplanetary disk. Here we investigate the alternative possibility that the planets formed in a dry protoplanetary disk populated with pebbles made of phyllosilicates, a class of hydrated minerals with a water fraction possibly exceeding 10 wt\%. We show that the dehydration of these minerals in the inner regions of the disk and the outward diffusion of the released vapor up to the ice-line location allow the condensation of ice onto grains. Pebbles with water mass fractions consistent with those of planets d--h would have formed at the snow-line location. In contrast, planets b and c would have been accreted from drier material in regions closer to the star than the phyllosilicate dehydration line.

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